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Betsy Christianson, who is 39 weeks pregnant, puts her finisher's medal on in the congestion at the finish line of the Fargo 5K Friday, May 9, 2014, at Island Park. Dave Wallis / The Forum
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West Fargo mom completes 5K run at 39-plus weeks pregnant; one of 8,000 runners and walkers

Betsy Christianson might be better served by the saying: "Ready To Rest!"

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The 29-year-old West Fargo woman ran Friday night's Fargo Marathon 5K race at 39 weeks and two days pregnant.

The active mom said she had to wait 41 weeks for her first child, 2½-year-old daughter Olivia, to be born. This time around, she wanted to "get the ball going."

"I'm hoping this will speed things up a little bit," she said before her run.

Christianson was one of more than 8,000 runners and walkers in the race that started near Fargo's downtown library, crossed into Moorhead and back over the Red River to finish in Island Park.

Fargo police Lt. Joel Vettel said vehicle and foot traffic swarmed the area, but the race was otherwise uneventful.

"Everything seems to have gone very smooth," he said.

With so many people coming downtown for the race, organizers had urged participants to give themselves plenty of time to reach the starting line. Kim Huot, 38, of Reynolds heeded the warning and arrived with more than 30 minutes to spare.

Huot and her mom, who both walked the 5K, drove into downtown via Broadway. Traffic was backed up, but they expected that, Huot said.

"Considering it's downtown and everything's different, I think they did a pretty good job of organizing," she said.

Race director Mark Knutson said many of the racers were in the starting area by 6:20 p.m., and with everyone waiting around, organizers went ahead and began the race five minutes before the scheduled 7 p.m. start time.

Carson Simpfenderfer set out from the starting line aiming to achieve his goal. The 19-year-old North Dakota State University freshman from Beulah planned to run the 5K and then race in the 10K this morning.

"I'm not going to push myself too much tonight," he said before the 5K. "Call it a fun run, just out to enjoy this beautiful weather."

'Go for it'

As a full-term mom-to-be, Christianson figured if anything could jog junior into this world, it would be a road race.

"Honestly, I had my (prenatal medical) appointment last Monday, and I was hoping that something would be happening and nothing was," she said. "I tried to sign up for the 10K, and it was already closed."

That left the 5K run as perhaps her best way to dash to the delivery room finish line, she said.